Patience the key for Wairarapa-Bush

Patience will be a virtue for Wairarapa-Bush in their vital Heartland championship rugby match with Mid-Canterbury at Memorial Park, Masterton tomorrow.
A repeat of the handling errors which so marred their performance in the 18-12 loss to Horowhenua-Kapiti last weekend would be disastrous for the home side with a desperate Mid-Canterbury sure to capitalise.
The visitors need nothing less than a win to guarantee themselves a place in the Meads Cup playoffs which get underway next Saturday and will be thirsting for any chance to turn Wairarapa-Bush mistakes into points on the board.
And while their Heartland campaign has hardly been a bed of roses they will be coming to Masterton with confidence running high after a hard-earned win over the big improvers of pool A, West Coast, last weekend.
The call for more patience for Wairarapa-Bush comes because it was a lack of that commodity which appeared to be their main problem against Horowhenua-Kapiti.
By constantly looking to launch attacks from first phase situations passes were rushed and ball consistently spilled as the opposition defence swarmed all over them.
That situation did not escape the notice of coach Graham Cheetham and consequently the emphasis at training this week has been on slowing the game down with the idea of working the ball through at least two or three phases before 'serious' attacks are mounted.
With that in mind, the onus will be fairly and squarely on the Wairarapa-Bush forwards tomorrow to call the tune in the tighter exchanges.
Experienced front rowers like Brett Rudman, Joe Harwood, Shane Temana and Brendon Walker will need to set the example for others to follow, both in the manner in which possession is protected and then delivered to halfback Hamish McKenzie.
Wairarapa-Bush need also to make better use of the running skills of 'tighties' like Harwood and locks Tomasi Kedrabuka (if he has recovered from his bruised shoulder) and Dan Griffin.
They can be dangerous men on the pick and go but again they need the collective support of their fellow forwards to make their presence properly felt in that part of the game.
In scrummaging too Wairarapa-Bush will be wanting a more complete performance than they have shown in any of their Heartland games to date.
It's not that they have been outgunned, more a case of some players having lapses in concentration and the stability of the platform being adversely affected as a result.
Mid-Canterbury are said to have a solid scrum so Wairarapa-Bush will need to be on their mettle to at least break even there.
It will be interesting to see how the new look loose forward trio combine for the home team.
The promotion of openside flanker Jared Hawkins from the B's was always on the cards after his lively performance in the curtain-raiser at Levin and the fitness concerns with Kedrabuka meant Josh Mackey, who is also a very useful lineout performer, became the obvious choice for the blindside flank.
Which in turn virtually guaranteed skipper Mike Spence would move from there to No.8.
Hawkins, especially, could have a big say in the result of tomorrow's game for he has the speed and the aggression to make a decent impact on attack and defence but again his effectiveness will come down to how well his tight forwards play.
To fully exploit his skills they will need to give him the latitude to roam and that will only happen if they attain a clear edge in the possession stakes.
One imagines too that halfback Hamish McKenzie will be keen to see his pack on the front foot as in the last couple of Heartland games he has had to deal with a lot of ball coming at him at the same time as two or three hefty opposition forwards.
A situation which has not only nullified his own running skills but also affected the quality of his service to first-five John Dodd.
There is a growing school of thought that Wairarapa-Bush could benefit from promoting seasoned campaigner James Bruce from the B's to either share the halfback duties with McKenzie as was the case last season, or possibly move McKenzie one place out to first-five, where he has performed capably in the past.
Bruce is a noted 'yapper' who is expert at getting the best out of his forwards and that skill alone could see him returning to the Heartland squad at short notice.
Having said that, however, it would be unfair to be too critical of Dodd, who has generally made a reasonable fist of the first-five role and whose goal kicking has been quite outstanding.
He does though give the impression he could be just as well suited at second-five or fullback so perhaps there is room to move in that regard.
Speaking of second-five the indications are that Jon Guillard will start there tomorrow with either Tapaga Isaac or Heemi Tupaea at centre.
All three are still very much newcomers to the representative scene at this level and while Isaac, in particular has done little wrong their ability to perform consistently well there is still being assessed.
There was a tendency in the Horowhenua-Kapiti match for the midfield to operate more as individuals than as a collective unit and that is something they will be keen to rectify this weekend.
The return of young winger Jordan Fox from injury is a definite plus for Wairarapa-Bush in that he is a player with the speed and flair to create something out of nothing in an attacking sense and the versatile Lance Stevenson has deservedly retained his place on the other wing.
He lacks nothing on the score of determination.
Fullback though is a concern.
The groin strain which forced Simanu Simanu off the field at halftime at Levin could well see him out of the action tomorrow, and what a blow that would be to Wairarapa-Bush as he is unquestionably their most dangerous attacker, and probably their surest defender too.
If he doesn't front up the odds seem to favour Tupaea being played at fullback as he has been used there at times in previous Heartland games.
Victory tomorrow is, of course, every bit as important to Wairarapa-Bush as it is to Mid-Canterbury.
They are already qualified for the Meads Cup playoffs but with competition points from pool games being taken through to the next round they will be doing themselves a big favour if they can pick up the maximum five four for a win and one for four tries or more here.
Lose and their prospects of making it to the semi-finals will suffer as a consequence.
This then is one of those matches which could go either way but with (hopefully) a big and vocal crowd firmly on Wairarapa-Bush's side the home advantage just might be the deciding factor in the final analysis.
Colts curtain-raiser
The Wairarapa-Bush colts rugby side are anticipating stern opposition from their Wanganui counterparts in their Hurricanes competition match which will be the curtain-raiser at Memorial Park tomorrow.
Coach Neil Foote was pleased with their finishing work in their massive 74-0 thumping of Poverty Bay last weekend but with Wanganui beating Poverty Bay by a similar scoreline earlier on he knows they will pose a much more difficult challenge.
It is likely, however, that Wairarapa-Bush will look to play the same free-flowing style of rugby which served them so well last weekend.
They will want to utilise the pace of players like centre Jordan Watene and fullback Nic Olson to place pressure on the Wanganui defences and it will help too if the attacking skills of loosies Mike Wilson and Lee Ewe are given full rein as well.